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Red Bull’s one-of-a-kind “Stratos” spectacle was the most epic marketing campaign of 2012 (and perhaps of all time).

In October, Felix Baumgartner broke the sound barrier in a 24-mile space jump, breaking the world record for the highest altitude skydive. More than 8 million viewers watched YouTube's live stream of the Red Bull-sponsored event.

“God bless Felix Baumgartner and the people at Red Bull for having the guts to go through with what was the best piece of work done all year,” Gelner says.

“The very second I heard of it I was compelled to hunt it down,” Rudduck adds. “It was on everyone’s lips the day it happened. From local radio, to co-workers, and even my kids, it was a hugely compelling and exciting idea that was delivered as exciting content. In fact, I’m going to go and watch it again right now.”

The two minute and 45-second spot recaps the most unforgettable events and biggest trends of 2012, based on Google’s study of more than 1.2 trillion search queries made in 146 languages.

“Curating content is the future for many brands. And which brands are we going to trust to curate the content?” Credle says. “Google makes a brave play into becoming what Time Person Of The Year was before the Internet.”

“Earlier this summer, Microsoft revealed a new corporate identity-- a first for the company in 25 years,” says Frampton. “With its brand clearly at an inflection point, the ‘Surface Movement’ campaign served as a bold signal that the Microsoft brand was entering a new era."

The highly choreographed and upbeat campaign directed by John Chu features dancers snapping together the tablet and keypad--a clear and simple visual expression of the brand’s new corporate identity: bringing together the square and color motif inherent in Microsoft’s new brand platform, Frampton says.

“As Microsoft continues to introduce new products, using visual cues such as the ones featured in this campaign will help to strengthen its brand position and provide consumers with a sense of consistency.”

“It seems like the smart marketers are realizing that interruption is dead,” says Reid Holmes, executive creative director at Campbell Mithun. “Rationalizing people into why you're better is just more white noise. Work that inspires, strikes an emotional chord of truth and wants to be shared on social networks or still talked about at the water cooler can turn dimes into dollars. Word of mouth is and always will be the most impactful kind of advertising. Social networks have allowed smart marketers to utilize this on a much bigger scale. But as with in-person communication, it must be authentic, honest and transparent, or you'll get rejected.”